The Beatles - How they started and how they broke up

Appunto di cultura inglese riguardante i Beatles. Si analizzerà la loro storia prima da un punto di vista generale e poi dagli occhi del famigerato John Lennon per poi concludere con un'analisi della loro musica per capire come mai sono acclamati ancor oggi.

Brief recap of The Beatles’ history and fame

are one of the most popular and successful British pop groups of all time.

They were made up of four young lads from Liverpool called Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Goerge Harrison and Ringo Starr.
The band began to be together in 1957 when John Lennon invited Paul to play in his band "The Quarryman." Then Ringo and George joined the band and they became "The Beatles". They marked the beginning of a new musical era.
Together they were extremely successful in the UK and also abroad, selling millions of records and making fans go crazy for their music! The media talked of Beatlesmania.
During their concerts many young people even fainted!
Most of the band's songs were written by John and Paul and their most popular tunes include "Hey Jude","Yesterday" and "Let it be."
In 1970 after many successful years together the band broke up because the stress of their fame was too much for them. They went their separate ways and started solo careers.
Today their influence on music is still very important and they still have millions of fans all around the world.

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John Lennon’s first years

John Lennon was born in Liverpool the 9 October 1940. His parents, Julia Stanley and Alfred Lennon, were descendent from O’Leannain which make them Irish. Since he was born during World War II his second name was Winston in honour of Churchill.
Two years later John’s parents divorced and in 1945 he decided to remain living with his mother even though the father wanted the child to be with him in New Zealand.
During the spring of the 1946 John moved to Woolton in order to live with his aunt Mimi and his uncle George and then he moved again to a little apartment with his mother and his new fiancé John 'Bobby' Dykins. Because this apartment was considered inappropriate for a child, John moved back to Mimi’s house and she was the one who worried about his nephew’s before at Quarry Bank High School and then at Liverpool College of Art.
In this period he started to learn how to play an armonica by himself.
A traumatic event that will influence all his life was hismother’s accident and death in 1958.

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His meeting with McCartney, his baleful love and the Beatles’ journey

During the Quarryman concert he met Paul McCartney and the idea of a band started to become true.
Although music and how it was contaminated by electric sounds was what made Lennon famous he was also excellent in writing and acting.
He created misunderstandings and fusses with his declaration about Christianity, especially in America, that lead to the interruption of their tour and the dedication of the studio recordings.
In 1968 John and the other members of the Beatles went to India to discover the secrets of meditation. Here Lennon had time to think about his love for Yoko Ono even though the 23 August 1964 married Cynthia Powell and had a son, Julian. As a matter of fact John divorced from her especially because Cynthia couldn’t stand his use of LSD.
The Beatles in England started their own record company called Apple and they recorded a double album, The Beatles, which had an iconic white cover.
The suffocating presence of Yoko Ono, with who Lennon recorded three electronic music albums, allowed the falling out of the band.
Between the 25 and the 31 March 1969 John and Yoko were laying in a bed of the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam to protest against the Vietnam War. The same thing happened in the Hotel Fairmont La Reine Elizabeth.
In 1970 The Beatles officially broke up but Lennon didn’t care so much because he was involved in his solo carrier.
From 18 months since September 1973 he didn’t live with Yoko and moved to California where he had the time of his life and in 1975 he reconciled with his wife and he recorded his last album called Rock 'n' Roll. After that he finished to show himself in public because he wanted to take care of his son without be tempted by his prior lifestyle.
In 1980 he recorded another album called Double Fantasy but the 8 December of the same year at 10.55 pm he was shot five times by Mark David Chapman.

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Why Beatles are so important?

They were part of the history of music because they were the first ones to started experimenting with sounds and letting different music genres to be together harmonically but extraordinarily. For example they mixed pop music with rock without omitting Indian influences.
Moreover in their songs autobiographical experiences live with hints to their use of marihuana and psychoactive drugs.
With The Beatles’ songs you can also assist to the introduction of particular instruments from all over the world and the most innovative recording techniques of their time like the Looping.
In the end, The Beatles can be considered the root of the psychedelic pop.

per ulteriori approfondimenti sulla musica dei Beatles vedi anche qui